It Begins

A Reserve corporal whose star has been rising in conservative circles over the past few months — including appearing on Fox News and being photographed with right-wing firebrand Ann Coulter — has acknowledged appearing in gay porn films.

Cpl. Matthew Sanchez, 36, now a member of the Individual Ready Reserve, has made national headlines since, as a student at Columbia University, he stood up to war protesters who publicly vilified him for his military service while administrators there refused to intervene, citing freedom of speech.

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Sanchez also appeared at last week’s Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington where he was photographed with his arm around Coulter, who caused a stir when she gave a speech at the conference in which she slammed Democratic presidential contender John Edwards using a vulgar word for a gay man.

On March 6, four days after Coulter’s comment, homosexual blogger Joe.My.God. published the picture of Coulter and Sanchez and alleged that Sanchez had spent the mid ’90s acting in gay porn films such as “Man to Men” under the screen names Rod Majors and Pierre LaBranche.

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While Sanchez says he has put his gay porn past behind him, the Marine Corps hasn’t. Homosexual behavior is prohibited by an article of the Uniform Code of Military Justice that forbids “sodomy.”

As a member of the IRR, Sanchez falls under the authority of Marine Corps Mobilization Command in Kansas City, Mo., where the commanding general’s staff judge advocate, Lt. Col. Michael Blessing, has begun an inquiry into the revelations about his past, according to command spokesman Shane Darbonne.

“We’re looking into it and we’re going to verify facts and determine if any further action is warranted,” Darbonne said.

As of Friday afternoon, officials at Marine Forces Reserve in New Orleans were unable to confirm whether Sanchez had enlisted prior to the end of his film career or if Reserve Marines were prohibited from doing porn when not in a drilling status. Sanchez has not returned phone calls seeking comment. He joined the Corps May 14, 2003 and is a refrigeration mechanic.

On Friday Officials at Marine Corps Recruiting Command were unable to say whether past participation in gay porn disqualifies a potential enlistee because it was unclear how the current “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy might apply.